New federal plan protects older forests to save spotted owl

[OregonBlue]

New federal plan protects older forests to save spotted owl
Posted by Michael Milstein, The Oregonian May 16, 2008 21:08PM

A new federal strategy for saving the northern spotted owl calls for "substantially" maintaining all older forests on public lands on the west side of the Cascades to the coast, frustrating timber leaders anxious to free land for logging.

That element of the new plan released Friday may be as close as federal agencies have come under the Bush administration to publicly suggesting large-scale safeguards for old growth trees.

Though the recovery plan is not a regulatory document, top federal land managers in the region signed on to its guidance, said Joan Jewett, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency that is lead author of the plan. "The land management agencies participated in the plan, and they've agreed to that."

Other key elements of the recovery plan include aggressive control of invading barred owls and thinning of flammable forests on the east side of the Cascades. It spells out the latest federal strategy to restore the owl, which keeps declining after more than a decade of protection.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/05/_a_new_federal_strategy.html

While this is good news for Western Oregon, I would like to know more about the logging plans for Eastern Oregon. We do have problems with fire danger but I can only assume they plan to rape the forests here if they are willing to give up Western Oregon forests.